In a beverage proportioning system, the production process typically begins by the generation of a finished syrup. A bottler combines specified amounts of sugar, water, concentrate, and other ingredients. This blend is called the finished syrup. Simple syrup refers to the solution of sugar dissolved in water. The sugar employed may be high fructose corn syrup, sucrose, or some other mixture. The finished syrup is then mixed with water and carbon dioxide. Bottles and cans are then filled with the finished beverage.
The proportioning standards of the ingredients are set by the recipe owner. A major goal of a bottler is to attain a high syrup yield and a final product within these standards. Because producing the syrup is a time consuming process and the concentrate is very expensive, the bottler attempts to maximize the amount of final beverage obtained from the finished syrup.
A typical problem encountered by most bottlers is water of high alkalinity. High alkalinity water adversely affects the flavor of the beverage. High alkalinity water neutralizes the acidity of the beverage resulting in a conditions conducive to microorganism growth. This is due in part to the fact that the preservative benzoic acid requires a low pH to be effective. As a result, water of high alkalinity means a shorter shelf life for the beverage.
Bottlers employ various methods to reduce the alkalinity of the water. A common method is to add hydrated lime (Ca(OH).sub.2) to the water to precipitate the bicarbonates. This process reduces the alkalinity of the water. However, once the low alkalinity water is combined with the concentrate, sugar, and other acids to form the finished syrup component, the resulting finished syrup may be too acidic. Besides the poor taste, a beverage of high acidity is undesirable because it causes boiling at the filler thereby resulting in slower speeds at the filler.
In existing systems, if the acidity of the finished syrup is too high, water is added to the finished syrup to dilute the acid within the desired acidity range. Because diluting the finished syrup results in a syrup of lower brix (concentration in percent of sugar by weight according to the brix scale), the syrup yield is thereby decreased as well. That is, a smaller quantity final beverage is obtained from the syrup because the sugar concentration of the syrup is diluted. Furthermore, the dilution of the finished syrup also decreases the concentration of the caffeine, benzoate, and other flavoring acids (e.g., citric, tartaric, or malic acid) thereby resulting in a lower quality drink. The bottler may then be required to add more caffeine, benzoate, and other flavoring acids to attain a beverage within the parameters for these ingredients. All this is of substantial cost to the bottler.
The problem is compounded by the fact that bottlers typically employ a trial and error technique for adjusting the water flow to be blended with the finished syrup. That is, bottlers typically apply one preset standard for the water flow and other components. Any adjustment of the water flow is made on a trial and error basis to bring the beverage within the brix parameters. If the blended beverage falls outside the standards, the batch is disposed of at substantial cost to the bottler.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,068,116, 5,314,703, 5,537,914, 5,552,171, 5,656,313, to Gibney et al. disclose a method of beverage blending. The method comprises, inter alia, determining the brix value of the blended water and syrup according to a formula, comparing this value to a preset target value, and then adjusting the blend of the water and syrup by the apparatus to approach the target value. U.S. Pat. No. 5,072,853 to Shannon discloses a technique for setting the brix in a soft drink dispenser using electrical probes. The method comprises determine the amount of time required for the syrup to pass the distance from the syrup dispensing head to the second probe. This time is a function of the flow rate and brix and the flow rate is then adjusted accordingly. Likewise, U.S. Pat. No. 5,303,846 to Shannon discloses a method of determining the brix of the syrup as a function of the temperature of the syrup using thermal sensing means.
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